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Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Elysium: One of the best of the year so far

Elysium is easily one of the year’s best
films. Here, Blomkamp equals his previous science fiction sleeper hit District
9.

Set in
2154, Elysium portrays a future where
Earth is in shambles and the wealthiest citizens have taken refuge in the
titular orbiting space station.

The visuals are amazing, as are the
special effects. The film does a great job of portraying the chaos of this
dystopian future. You really feel like you’re in a living, breathing world, and
we’re shown that world naturally. There’s no awkward exposition as in so many
similar films. Elysium manages to subtly
touch on powerful issues, without hitting the audience over the head with a
message.

Matt
Damon is good as usual as the protagonist, Max. Jodie Foster is decent as Delacourt,
a high ranking member of the government of Elysium. There was something a bit
weird about her performance that I can’t quite put my finger on. Her voice (and
vague accent) was somewhat odd, but it was effective at times.

The
real standout of the cast was Sharlto Copley, who also starred in District 9.
His role in this film is much different. He plays Kruger, a ruthless villain
that works for Delacourt. Copley is excellent at portraying the creepy,
somewhat insane Kruger. He’s definitely one of the best film villains in recent
memory.

Elysium opened in first place on its
opening weekend, making 29.8 million dollars. In second place was the Jennifer
Aniston comedy We’re The Millers, and
Planes was in third. Elysium’s opening
was decent, but slightly disappointing. It was less than District 9’s $37
million opening, which had no marketable stars. Elysium’s worldwide total as of
August 13 is $48 million. The film is currently sitting at 67% on Rotten
Tomatoes.